Seal



C. KNOTH, JR

SEAL

Filed Sept. 18 1923 M 2? BY ATTORNEY}? Patented Get. 28, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CONRAD KNO'lI-I, JIL, F EIIDGEWOQD, NEW YORK, ASSIGrIVO'IEi, OF ONE-HALF T0 JOHN T. BLADEN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.v

'sEAL.

Application filed. September 18, 1923." Serial No. 663,380

To all Q0/1077? it may concern.

Be it known that I, CONRAD KNo'rH, J12, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Ridgewood, Long Island, in the county of Queens and State of New York,

have invented certain-new and useful 1H1 provements in Seals, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to seals adapted to be applied to a string, rope, cord, or wire surrounding a package or receptacle. In my co-pending application filed concurrently herewith, Serial No. 663,37 9, I have shown a will make it impossible to open a package during shipment without disclosing the fact that the same has been tampered with and it therefore serves to reduce loss CltllDlS as between shipper and consignee and between either of these and the carrier.

The present seal includes a shell which encloses and protects the knot tied in the cord or rope and it also straddles this knot at the point of crossing of the two runs of the cord 3.3 or rope so that a knot can notbe untied nor can one run be shifted in relation to the other. i

In the drawing forming part of this application, -l() which my seal has been applied ready for shipment,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the package and seal,

Figure 3 is a plan view of the shell forming part of the seal,

Figure 4 is a sideelevation thereof,

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure l, and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the closin strip.

The seal includes two principal members 55 consisting of a shell for enclosing the knot Figure 1 is a plan view of a package to and straddling the cord or rope and. a closing strip forclosing the shell. The closing strip is made of a very fragile metal such as is usedin the well known Edgar seal, which metal isdesigned to permit the strip to be bent at any point in one direction and which because of :its fragile nature will immediate 1y break. if rebent.

The shellshown herein and designated by the numeral 1 comprises a cylindrical. wall 2;closed at one end by the dome-shaped cap 3 forming a chamber i of sufiicient size to enclosethe knot 5 which is tied in the cord or rope which surrounds the package 6 this knot; in the illustration shown herein, being formed atthe intersection of the cross run 7 and the longitudinal run 8 of the cord or jPreferably,the dome orcap 3 is provided withoppositely arranged apertures 9 of just sufficient diameter to permit the free ends of the rope to I be separately passed there. through for a purposewhich will appear.

hereinafter.- The shell is provided with oppositely disposed slots 10 near the closed end to receive the closing strip therethrough. The open end of the shell is provided with twooppositely arranged vertical slots ll. to

receive therein one run of the rope and it .1s, provided with two oppositely arranged vertical slots 12 toreceive the otherrun of the rope, theslots 11 being preferably arrangedin a direction at right angles to the slots 12. The bottom edge of the shell is cut away at; opposite sides along-the lines 13 so that the portions 1% extend below these edges 13. The closing strip shown in Figure 7 is illustrated as provided with weakened points tofacilitate bending of the strip at three different locations. These easily weakened. points may consist of side notches l5 inthe strip or of cross slots or. partial cuts 1601' both of these as desired.

Operation.

The package is tied with the rope ar ranged crosswise and lengthwise to provide the runs 7 8 and the endsof the rope are brought together at the point of intersection of these two runs and the knot 5 is then tied in the rope leaving short lengths extending beyond the knot. The shell 1 isplaced over the knot 5 and over the rope in such manner that one run of the rope is received in the vertical slots 11 and the other run is received in the vertical slots 12 and the free ends of the rope maybe car ried out through the apertures 9 in the cap and "an external knot 17 may be tied with these ends to hold the cap in place while the closing strip is being applied. The closing strip is then inserted through slots 10 so that it passes across the shell above the knot 5. The strip is then bent downwardly at 20 and it is again bent at right angles at the point 2l'so'thatit passes across under the edges 13 at 22 and between the lower projections 14 of the shell. strip is again bent at right angles at the point 23 to form an up-turned lip 24 on the opposite side of the casing "to the vertical portion 25. The seal is now applied and the package may be shipped without fear of its being opened withoutleavin evidence of the fact. If any attempt is made to rebend the closing strip at the point 23 to open the lower end of the shell, the strip, because of its fragile nature, will break at this point. It can not be moved sidewise because of the lower projections M and any attempt to bend it downwardly away from these projections will cause the strip to be broken at the point 21. If an attempt is made to rebend the up-turned end 24: in order to withdraw the strip to the left in Figure 6 the strip will break at the point 23. As the strip and shell enclose the knot 5 access cannot be had to the knot for the purpose of un'tying it for the reasons thus described. v

In order that the closing strip may not i be removed surreptitiously and then replaced by another one, the individual closing'strips may be numbered or lettered or otherwise individually marked and the individual mark may be placed on the invoice furnished the consignee so that when the latter receives the package referred to in the invoice, if the closing strip bears the same mark as that indicated in the invoice and the strip is unbroken, the consignee may be certain that the package has remained unopened from the time it left the hands of the con'signor. It Will be apparent that the present seal may be very quickly applied to packages and that it is a positive protection against theft of the contents of the pack-age. 'It will be understood that the closing strip- The is destroyed when the consignee opens the seal but the shell remains intact and may be used over again.

Having described my invention, What I claim is:

1. A seal of the class described comprising a shell adapted to enclose a knot tied in a rope or cord, said shell having an open endto receive the knot therein and having a plurality of 7 slots extending upwardly from said open end to receive different runs of a cord or rope arranged at an angle to each other, and a closing strip of easily breakable material adapted to be attached to said shell to close the shell for the purpose of sealing the knot therein.

2. A seal of the class described comprising a shell having a closed end and an open end to receive therein a knot in a cord or rope, said shell having slots therein adjacent the closed end, and a closing strip of easily breakable material adapted to be inserted in said slots and adapted to be bent downwardly and across the open end of said shell to seal the knot therein.

3. A seal of the class described comprising a shell having a closed end and an open end to receive therein a knot in a rope or cord,

said shell having slots therein adjacent the closed end, and having projections at its open end, and a closing strip of easily breakable material adapted to be passed through said slots and to be bent downwa rdly and across the open end of said shell between said projeections for the purpose of sealing the knot in said shell.

4. A seal of the class described compris ing a shell having a closed end. and an open end said closed end having apertures through which the ends of a cord or rope may be passed, said shell having slots 

